Six candidates are making their case for three seats on the San Mateo County Board of Education, addressing matters including funding equity and cellphone, social media and curriculum guidelines in hopes of being elected in November.
The county Office of Education — which the board directs — does not oversee all county schools, but offers a variety of education, business and service support programs to local districts. It is headed by the county superintendent of schools, Nancy Magee, who is also elected. The primary responsibility of the office is to educate students enrolled in court or community schools, and special education programs. The board also reviews and approves charter school applications which have been rejected by the host district.
The Office of Education and its board do not provide oversight of the school districts within the county, but do serve as a mediator and advocate between the state and the county’s 24 districts.
Trustee Area 4, 5 and 6 are seeing contested races, with 5 and 6 left open by Jim Cannon and Ted Lempert, respectively. Incumbent Chelsea Bonini is defending her seat in Area 4. Incumbent Hugo Torres of Trustee Area 7 is running for reelection unopposed.
Two former elected officials, who have both served extensively on school boards, are both looking to win the Area 5 seat, which largely represents Pacifica, Millbrae and Burlingame.
Maurice Goodman is racing against Mike O’Neill, both with intentions to address equity and their own ideas on how to mitigate financial concerns.
Goodman, who was recently recalled as councilmember in Millbrae, said his experience serving two terms on the San Mateo County Community College District and two terms on the South San Francisco Unified School District equips him for the job.
“I’m not deterred about the need for representation and strong courageous voices in the room,” Goodman said. “This is yet another opportunity for me to serve in a way that contributes and brings honors and pays back the community that has been there for me and my children.”
Goodman said amid fluctuating challenges of funding from the state, the Office of Education should promote resources already available within the community, such as the Middle College program which provides quality, rigorous higher education free for students while also saving per-student spending required of districts.
“How can we do better with less,” Goodman said.
After Gov. Gavin Newsom recently encouraged districts across the state to restrict phone use in the classroom, Goodman said the Office of Education should maintain its stance against its addictive qualities.
The Office of Education filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging social media companies are designed to be purposefully addictive, sparking a mental health crisis among young people.
“That’s the new tobacco, that’s been something we’ve been talking about in education and more recently what the challenge is of cellphones in the classroom,” Goodman said. “We are at the tip of the spear and we shouldn’t be afraid to speak truth to power.”
O’Neill said if he were elected, he would be interested in the board working to make funding more equitable to address the staggering differences between the lower funded districts in the county compared to those with abundant community-funded dollars.
While on the Pacifica School District Board of Trustees, O’Neill started the implementation for staff housing, and he currently assists the Jefferson High School District board overseeing its staff housing implementation. O’Neill said he is aware of obstacles these districts are facing while attempting to secure housing that the Board of Education could lobby to be addressed and mitigated.
“The districts that most need the staff housing are the lowest funding districts,” O’Neill said. “Three of the five lowest-funded school districts are in District 5, the one I’m running in. I lived in that; my 14 years on the school board, 12 of those were cutting budgets.”
O’Neill also said he would like to establish a more substantive trades program, and have the Office of Education be a forerunner in establishing a curriculum that considers the implementation of artificial intelligence in education.
Bonini, who is currently president of the board, is defending her spot in Area 4, which mainly represents San Mateo, against Priya Hays, an educator and science writer. Bonini first was elected to the position in 2020, when she beat out a 14-year tenured trustee.
In these 3 1/2 years, Bonini said she has worked extensively on mental health, accessibility and literacy, and has promoted “some level of fiscal accountability and review of county office procedures.”
Board of Education trustees must work alongside a county superintendent who is independently elected, establishing a different dynamic than the relationship among other local districts in which the school board hires and sets policy for the superintendent to execute.
Bonini said that during her tenure so far, she has advocated for more transparency, data and insight on the quality of education provided at the community schools, and will continue to advocate for such information from the superintendent of schools.
“I have a lot of thoughts about how the board can be involved, but the board is kept at arm’s length,” Bonini said.
On the other hand, Hays said she would “support the status quo” on what role the board currently serves.
Hays’ main platform position is her intent to establish a more extensive science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum to promote students’ consideration to be scientists, clinicians and doctors.
“The reason I ran is because I had a particular agenda for education that was distinct from my organizing in health care policy,” Hays said. “Some of the issues, concerns that I see in San Mateo County are the result of education not really inducing a sort of moral compass in students.”
In terms of addressing education budgets and financial oversight, Hays said the responsibility lies upon on the state to provide financial support to update resources such as textbooks. Bonini said the Office of Education can do more.
To address funding inequities across districts in the county, Bonini said a possible tax to support children and youth education should be further considered.
Considering the county’s efforts to address cellphone use and social media effects on young students through a lawsuit, both Bonini and Hays believe the matter is a serious issue to be addressed.
Patricia Love, executive director for Strategy and Communications for the Office of Education, is running in Area 6, which covers areas of San Carlos and Redwood City. She would bring nearly seven years of experience working within the office alongside the board to the position. If elected, she could no longer hold her Office of Education position.
“This would just be another opportunity to serve in a different way, in education, in my community and I thought I had something to offer,” Love said. “I appreciate what [the board] can do, I appreciate some of the challenges they can face, and I appreciate the opportunities that being on the board can provide to help serve students.”
With an intimate understanding of what the board has jurisdiction over, Love said a priority of hers is bolstering the education programs that the Office of Education oversees, which often serve students who require alternative opportunities.
“I think the court and community schools are so critical,” Love said. ‘The school-to-prison pipeline, they are sitting right there at that door, helping to redirect kids and support kids. That in itself is super important and that needs to be a focus.”
Another area of focus for Love is to continue efforts to improve literacy among young learners throughout the county.
“I’m hoping we’ll really start to see the needle move for students on their reading by third grade,” Love said. “I’m hopeful that this is just another area that we lean into and we see some really important results.”
Ester Adut, who is running against Love for the Area 6 trustee seat, could not be reached for an interview.
The County Board of Education has seven members, elected to four-year terms, representing their respective trustee areas. The president and vice president are voted on by the board annually.